China on Tuesday released images of a Mars probe and rover which the country plans to send to the Red Planet within five years.
上周二,中国发布了火星探测器和火星车的图片,并计划在五年内将其发射到火星上。
China plans to send a spacecraft to orbit Mars, make a landing, and deploy a rover in July or August 2020, said Zhang Rongqiao, chief architect of the Mars mission at a press conference in Beijing. "The challenges we face are unprecedented."
在北京召开的一场发布会上,火星探测任务的总工程师张荣桥表示,中国计划在2020年七月或八月发射飞船,在火星着陆并部署火星车。而我们面临的挑战前所未有。
According to Ye Peijian, one of China's leading aerospace experts and a consultant to the program, the 2020 mission will be launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from the Wenchang space launch center in south China's Hainan province.
中国领先航空航天专家、项目顾问叶培建表示,2020年实施的这项任务,将在海南文昌航空发射中心发射的长征5号运载火箭上完成。
The lander will separate from the orbiter at the end of a journey of around seven months and touch down in a low latitude area in the northern hemisphere of Mars where the rover will explore the surface.
着陆器将在为期7个月左右的行程结束时分离环绕器,之后火星车会降到火星北半球低纬度地区,开始探索火星表面。
Images displayed at press conference showed a device with six wheels, powered by four solar panels, two more than the rover sent to the moon.
根据在发布会上展示的图片显示,该火星车有六个轮子,由四个太阳能板驱动,要比“玉兔”多两个。
Weighing around 200 kilograms, it is designed to operate for three Martian months, according to Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the probe.
据火星探测器的总设计师孙泽洲介绍,火星车重达200多千克,预计可在火星上工作三个月。
The probe, for its part, will carry 13 payloads including a remote sensing camera and a ground penetrating radar which could be used to study the soil, environment, and atmosphere of Mars, as well as the planet's physical fields, the distribution of water and ice, and its inner structure.
火星车将携带包括遥感相机和探地雷达在内的13个装备。这些装备不仅能研究火星土壤、环境和空气,还能探测火星的物理场、水资源分布和火星的内部结构。